On an official Australian army website recounting our Malayan campaign, some idiot has captioned a picture “Prince of Whales and Repulse”. http://www.army.gov.au/2_30trggp/Defence_Relationship.htm
As usual, the glorious Australian myth is perpetuated about facing the magnificent Imperial Guards by this statement:
“On 15 January, the partly trained 45th Indian Brigade was attacked by the veteran Japanese Guards Division on the Maur River line, and were defeated.”
The Guards were veterans of nothing but the previous five weeks of the Malayan campaign. They hadn’t fired a shot in anger for a generation. Yamashita didn’t want them as he regarded them, rightly, as ceremonial troops with no proved battle ability. Their conduct in Malaya and later in Papua showed that they were competent troops but vicious and merciless in dealing with wounded and captured enemy, and often more so than other Japanese units.
Given the lack of tolerance shown by the Taxation Office for mistakes on my tax return, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a lack of mistakes from activities funded by my rather generous, if involuntary, contributions to the government coffers.
